http://cogprints.org/5383/
A WRIST-WALKER EXHIBITING NO "UNER TAN
SYDNROME": A THEORY FOR POSSIBLE
MECHANISMS OF HUMAN DEVOLUTION TOWARD
THE ATAVISTIC WALKING PATTERNS
After discovering two families with handicapped children exhibiting the “Uner Tan
syndrome,” the author discovered a man exhibiting only wrist-walking with no
primitive mental abilities including language. According to his mother, he had an
infectious disease with high fever as a three months old baby; as a result, the left
leg had been paralyzed after a penicilline injection. This paralysis most probably
resulted from a viral disease, possibly poliomyelitis. He is now (2006) 36 years
old; the left leg is flaccid and atrophic, with no tendon reflexes; however, sensation
is normal. The boy never stood up on his feet while maturing. The father forced
him to walk upright using physical devices and making due exercises, but the
child always rejected standing upright and walking in erect posture; he always
preferred wrist-walking; he expresses that wrist-walking is much more comfortable
for him than upright-walking. He is very strong now, making daily body building
exercises, and walking quite fast using a “three legs,” although he cannot stand
upright. Mental status, including the language and conscious experience, is quite
normal. There was no intra-familiar marriage as in the two families mentioned
earlier, and there is no wrist-walking in his family and relatives. There were no
cerebellar signs and symptoms upon neurological examination. The brain-MRI was
normal; there was no atrophy in cerebellum and vermis. It was concluded that there
may be sporadic wrist-walkers exhibiting no “Uner Tan Syndrome.” The results
suggest that the cerebellum has nothing to do with human wrist-walking, which
may rather be an atavistic trait appearing from time to time in normal individuals,
TAN, Prof. Dr. Üner
Neurophysiology
Evolutionary Psychology
Üner
TAN